Mindless
by Rockport268
Summary: Lena has a nightmare after Webby tells a scary story.


**A/N: I'm back for this year's Fictober, but things are a bit different this year. I'm working full-time now, so I'm only posting on Tuesdays and Fridays. I've also decided to write for multiple fandoms this year, though the majority of the fics will likely still be DuckTales.**

* * *

_Prompt: Mindless_

"And then, that night, while everyone was sound asleep, the ghostly bedbugs crept into their beds and BIT THEM!"

The kids all gasped.

Webby continued. "Then, slowly, they all started to rise up out of their beds. They left their houses, their arms outstretched in front of them," here, Webby demonstrated, holding her arms out like a Frankenstein's monster, "and made their way to the center of town, where the little girl was waiting."

"Oh, no!" Louie whispered.

"As they approached, their eyes vacant and their footsteps heavy, the girl realized that the ghostly bedbugs had turned them," Webby paused for dramatic effect, "into MINDLESS ZOMBIES!"

The kids screamed, laughter mixing in with their shrieks.

"They came closer and closer, their speed increasing as they neared their target. The girl was surrounded. Neighbors, friends, even family that she'd known all her life no longer recognized her. She pleaded with them and begged them to snap out of it, but it was no use. She had only one choice-to stay and fight!"

The kids cheered.

As Webby described the fight scene (in great technical detail, no less), Lena's eyes drifted to the second campfire where Scrooge, Della, Donald, and Mrs. Beakley were laughing and eating s'mores. She wondered what it would be like if they suddenly woke up one day and had no idea who she was. Lena almost welcomed the hypothetical chance to start over, to shed her association with Magica De Spell once and for all, but that wouldn't really matter if they all just turned into mindless zombies bent on attacking her for no apparent reason, would it? Besides, would they even like her the second time around? Who knew.

"The sun rose over the town, revealing the carnage of the night before. Bodies lay strewn over the town's main square, limp and lifeless in the early morning light. Exhausted, the girl slumped to the ground. In the near distance, she saw a ghostly bedbug crawl over the dirt road towards the forest." Webby lowered her voice ominously. "The battle had been won, but the war was far from over."

The words hung in the air like fog clinging to the treetops in the early morning.

"All right, kids! Time for bed," Della said, breaking the silence.

The kids got up and retreated to their tents, Huey, Dewey, and Louie sharing one and Lena, Violet, and Webby sharing the other.

As Lena lay in the dark in her sleeping bag, she found herself plagued by that jittery feeling that Something was watching her, ready to jump out at her any moment. She'd been having that feeling a lot lately, ever since she'd gotten back from the shadow realm, and even before when that Something was really there in the form of Aunt Magica. Lena pushed the feeling away. It was only a story, Webby and Violet were right there next to her, and they were surrounded by enough crazy adventurers that even if Something managed to get past them, they'd be able to take care of it. Everything was fine.

* * *

Lena was standing outside of McDuck Manor, watching, waiting. The wind whipped at her hair and sweater. The world around her was dimming, the sky awash in bright oranges and yellows on one side and darkening purples and blues on the other.

The front door opened, and people began to spill out. Scrooge, Webby, Huey, Violet. Lena wasn't sure what Violet had been doing in the Manor that she wasn't already out there with her.

Lena raised a hand in greeting, but the words died on her lips as she realized with horror that their expressions were completely blank. They were all looking _through_ her, not _at_ her. Webby was holding a grappling hook in her hand. Scrooge had the Medusa Gauntlet. Violet was holding a vial of some bluish liquid, and Lena knew from experience that it was very likely going to blow up.

The side door to the Manor opened. Lena felt relief as Mrs. Beakley came out with Dewey, Louie, Donald, and Della. _She_ would figure out what was going on, and she'd stop it.

But instead, she joined the rest, her expression just as blank as theirs, moving closer and closer to Lena.

Unlike the girl in the story, Lena turned and ran.

But she _couldn't _run. No matter how fast she moved her legs, she wasn't getting much of anywhere. _Move, move, move, go, go, go._ She looked back, and Scrooge and Webby and Beakley and Violet and everybody else were much closer than they had been before, _too_ close. They were reaching out, ready to grab at her. Lena doubled down, pumping her legs faster and faster, praying to any deity who would listen to let her run, get away from here. She imagined them coming closer and closer, just inches away. She couldn't bring herself to look back again. They _must_ have reached her by now. Any moment, they were going to grab her, and-

"Ahhhh!" Lena screamed, bolting upright in her sleeping bag.

"Lena!" It was Violet's voice.

For the barest moment, Lena had the urge to bolt, but then she realized she didn't have to. Violet knew her. It had just been a dream.

Lena took a few deep breaths, trying to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. Violet was kneeling next to her, a grounding hand on her shoulder. Webby was standing on top of her sleeping bag, relaxing a fighting stance.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's...nothing," Lena said, scrubbing a hand over her face. It was fine now. Everything was ok.

Violet turned towards Webby. "I think your scary story tonight was _too_ scary."

"No, it wasn't, it's just-" Lena said, frantically racking her brain for _some_ other excuse.

"It's ok, Lena," Webby said, her voice soft and gentle and _kind. _"We don't have to do scary stories for a while."

"But what about-"

"Eh, I was getting kind of tired of hearing them, anyway," Violet said with a shrug.

"Yeah, and I was running out of scary stories to tell." Webby grinned. "But I have _plenty_ of historical stories to tell! There's the Battle of Fort Duckburg, the Klondike Gold Rush, the Gold Hill of Panama…"

Lena couldn't help but laugh. "I think we get it," she said. She let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding, and her expression softened. "Thanks, guys."

Violet smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Violet, what book are you reading right now?" Webby said.

_"Curses and Tombs of the Egyptian Mummy._ Why?"

"Why don't you tell us about it?" Webby said, sitting cross-legged on her sleeping bag.

"I don't know, Webby, it's really late..." Lena began.

"So what? I don't think I'm going to be able to get back to sleep for a while, anyway," Webby said.

Violet grinned. "Well, I'm on the chapter about the cursed death mask of Pharaoh Nutun-Khamun…"

Lena listened to Violet talk about her book. Her voice was comforting in a familiar sort of a way, driving out thoughts of fantastical zombies and insect-induced curses and replacing them with thoughts of home and friendship. Soon enough, Lena felt her eyelids begin to droop, and. She tried to fight it-friends didn't fall _asleep_ while friends were talking about the things they cared about, and she _really_ didn't want to have another nightmare, but the pull of the sandman was too strong, and she fell into a deep slumber.

And Lena slept just fine.


End file.
